Shawty Got Low, Low, Low…

Shawty had them apple bottom jeansBoots with the fur The whole club was looking at herShe hit the floor Next thing you knowShawty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low…

– “Low” FloRida* featuring T-Pain

I’ve been Shawty** for a while.

The problem with trying to get into better control is that, for a while at least, you feel out of control. And boy, I’m feeling it these days.

Thanks to my CGM, I know now that my basal and my correction bolus rates are off. I was bottoming out (without the apple jeans) at night and waking up in the 200s. I then spent the morning chasing the dragon, trying to bring it down to a normal range. What would happen? I’d bottom out. Again. (The correction bolus was off.) And then a single juice box would shoot me over 200. So, I’d correct. And it became a vicious cycle until bedtime. Low, juice, snack, high, correction, low, juice… You know the drill.

I dropped my sensitivity factor ratio by 20 points and the spikes and crashes got less frequent, but the overnight basals were leaving me zombified in the mornings. Beep. 2am. Juice. Snack. Beep. 4am. Juice. Beep. 7am. One night I slept through the regular alarm of the CGM (I’ve now changed my Dexcom to HypoAlert. That sucker is loud.), and went two hours in the 40s and 50s. I’ve had days with only two hypoglycemic episodes and others with six in twenty-four hours. All for the sake of better control.

I’m still messing with the basals and last night was the first time in almost three weeks when I haven’t gone low. Of course, I still woke up because the “Hey, you’re high. You’re high. Excuse me. Excuse me. You’re high!” alarm kept going off. And in reviewing the graph, I went from one extreme to another. ::sigh:: It will be fixed, eventually, but right now, I’m frustrated.

See, this isn’t the first time. If I lose three pounds, everything changes. Gain them back? Change. Some days, delayed gastric emptying seems to be the norm. I’ll eat and crash, but four hours later, that meal kicks in. Other days? All quiet. I just don’t know which day (or night) I’ll have. My diabetes and my life and my stomach are not playing well together, making it difficult to determine what the right basal rates I need to bring me off the dance floor and out of those apple bottom jeans***.

*FloRida’s real name is Tramar Lacel Dillard and yes, he was born in Florida. I would like to see more singers try that… “Now on stage… SasKatchewan!” Hmm… You want to see the video of Low? Here it is in all its glory. (Once again, I’d suggest no kids in the room.)

**While I am short, I am not a Shawty. This song was very popular in the clubs when I would go to Vegas, but never did the whole club look at me.

***And for the record, I neither own apple bottom jeans nor boots with the fur.